Soliloquy, 30″ x 24″ oil on panel, framed by the artist

Soliloquy captures a moment in Monet’s Garden, Giverny, from the perpective of one standing on one footbridge and looking at another. Cate and I were able to spend an afternoon wandering and meandering the paths, ponds and bridges Monet designed to help him ease his depression. I plan to paint more from our visit to the Monet estate in the coming months. Since we traveled in late summer, the lilies were not in bloom, so I combined reference from one of our many trips to Brookgreen Gardens to fill out the scene. I call it Soliloquy because it feels like many thoughts and feelings happening simultaneously as we take in the scene. And yet it is very introspective; as we look out, we see within. His Gardens were intended as a place to meditate, to join with nature. I invite the viewer to do just that, the next best thing to being there (maybe even better).